Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven. ~Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies, 1928
Southern Bonsai Blog
Blog about lessons learned growing bonsai in the South
"What I like about bonsai is that it has a beginning but no end. A bud today becomes a branch tomorrow. --John Y. Naka
Ficus Bonsai Progression
This is basically a one year progression of a Ficus Retusa var. Microcarpa I purchased at Wal-Mart last year when I first got into bonsai. They grow really fast and despite setbacks and my beginner maintenance, it has thrived.
Ficus Retusa Bonsai
I spoke about this last year, but after leaving it outside for a few months, birds (or something) stripped all the branches off. There wasn’t a leaf left on the tree and most branches were broken. About a week or two later, this is what it looked like.
Ficus Retusa Bonsai
And after repotting this spring. As you can see, the branches are really starting to develop, and in my humble opinion, this is going to be a nice bonsai. It does need some wiring which I haven’t done on this tree at all. The branches are very flexible though. It gets a lot of good compliments from the people that visit me. People tend to love the S-curve, even though bonsaists hate it. I don’t know if I’m here for the experts though.
Ficus Retusa Bonsai
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Tags: bonsai, ficus microcarpa, pictures, ProgressionRelated Posts
Looks like it’s coming along nicely.
I think keeping them alive is the first big step for new folks. Congratulations on making it through a winter.
I hope the birds leave it alone this year. Looks like a good time to start practicing your wiring skills. They really start to look much better with a little time spent wiring some branches down and curvy.
My bird loves to snip leaves and branches if he gets the chance.
Just gotta get him enrolled in a class and I’ll be set.
Good luck with your trees. I hope they do great this summer.